Floor and wall tile.



Patented Oct. 9, I900.

A. PLANT. FLOUR AND WALL TIL-E. (Application filed May 25, 1 0.) ("0Model.)

. I I v I r B /0\ /0 v Swvewtoz WWI woe e0 aim 4 UNETED STATES hATENT.@FFicE.

.itrnsn PLANT, or new YORK, n. ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF TO FRANK w. SILKMAN,or SAME PLACE.

FLOOR AND WALL TILE.

SPECIFIGATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 659,453, dated October9, 1900. smitten filed is, 25, 1000. senate. 17,968. (No model-l .Fe(.071 m/iom it"nmy concern: ing the bottom of said modification. Figs. 9Be itknown that-LALFRED PLANT, acitizen and are cross'sections on thelines 9 9, 10

of the United States, residing'at New York, 10, Fig. 8, respectively.Fig. 11 shows the in the county of New York and State of New former usedin making the concealed recess- .55 q York, have invented certain newand useful .inthis modification.

Improvements in Floor and Wall Tiles; and The tile A (shown inFigs. 1 to4, inclusive) I do declare the following to be a full, clear, may be ofany desired outline or size. In its and exact description of theinvention, such under side is a cavity orrecess B, the shapeaswilienable others skilledin theart towhich of which is preferablycircular, as shown.

. o it. appertains to make and use the same, refer- The lower portion 1)of thewalls of the recess ence being bad to the accompanying drawisupright, but the upper part b'is sloped outings, and to the letters ofreference marked wardly or undercut, so as to make the recess thereon,which form a part of this specificalarger at the top than at the bottom.The retion.

i My invention relates to ornamentaltiles for running across the bottomof the tile and out floors and walls. Such tiles are usually made to thesides thereof. These grooves are rather with several shallow grooves inthe back, but shallw at their outer ends, but preferably these grooveshave no positive hold on theceincrease in depth as they approach therecess merit in which the tile is set, merely affording until they areof the same depth there as 20 a larger adhesive surface between the tileand at their points of intersection therewith, as

the cement. It has been proposed to make clearly shown in Fig. 3. Itwill be seen that these grooves undercut or dovetail in crossthoseportions b of the walls of therecess section, so as to afford a key withthe cement which lie between the grooves G are comparand give the tile astrong and positive hold atively thick, so as to have considerab1e75 25thereon; but such undercut grooves are difstrength. Vixen such a tile asthis is pressed ficult to make, and their thin sharp edges are into thecement, the recess will be filled with very liable to become broken 0E,thereby dethe plastic oement,and the air in the recess can stroyiugtheir holding effect. To remedy this, escape through the grooves G ateach side of it has been proposed to make one or more the tile or at oneside in case one edge of the 2o undercut recesses or sockets in place ofthe tile enters the cement before the other. In

grooves; but in pressing such a tile into the many cases the tile-setterbefore placingthe cement the air imprisoned in the recess pretile inposition applies a dab of cement to it, vents the cement from. entirelyfilling the rewhich enters the recess and expels the air cess, and thusimpairs the completeness and therefrom and afterward forms'a firm bond 5efficiency of the key. My invention aims to with the body of cement intowhich the tile overcome these difficulties by providing the is laid. Inevery case the cement engages tile with a concealed recess havingundercut with the wider upper part of the recess, and walls andintersected by transverse grooves thereby makes a strong key which holdsthe running out to the edges of the tile, one or tile firmly in place.9o 0 more of the groovesbeiug deep enough to af- In the modificationshown in Figs. 7 to 11 ford a free escape for'the air in the recess thetile has two rather deep channels D runwhen the tile is pressedintothe-cement. ning across its bottom face, with ashallower.

in the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective channel D lying between them.These chanviewof atile embodyingmyinvention. Fig. nels have slopingsides d and fiat tops d 45 2 is a bottom plan view of the same. Figs. 3and serve to present a greater surface for and I are cross-sections onthe lines 3 3, 4 4, the adhesion of the cement. They difier fromFig.2,respectively. Figs. 5 and 6 show difthe ordinary grooves made forthis purpose fercntforms of formers for making the conin that they arebut three in number and are v cealed recess. Fig-7 is a perspective viewof much deeper. and broader. The key-formtoo 0 a modified constructionof tile embodying my ing recess B runs from one channel D to theinvention. Fig. 8isaperspectiveviewshowother, crossing the channel D.The recess cess is intersected transversely by grooves C, 65

within it.

and by its swelling would'bnrst the tile.

has walls which are upright at their lower part b and slope outwardly attheir upper part b, thus making the upper portion of the recess largerthan the lower portion. This enlarged chamber or cavity aflfords ampleopportunity for the cement to enter and make a strong key with the tile.The grooves C D D are formed by ribs on the lower die of the tilepress.The recesses are made by placing on said die a former of combustiblematerial. The tile-forming material is then deposited upon and aroundsaid former and lhe tile is pressed, embedding the former When the'tileis fired, the former will slowly char and volatilize at the hightemperature to which the tile is subjected, thus leaving the recessclear and free from debris;

The formers E E E must be made of some material which will not burn witha fierce flame or intense heat, since otherwise they would crack andruin the tile. tial also that this material shall be non-absorbent ofmoisture, since otherwise it would soak up moisture from the damp clayor d nst The former shown in Fig. 5 isto be placed one cylindricalsupport integral with or attached to the die of the tile-press andlocated at the intersection of the ribs which form the grooves. Theformer shown in Fig. 6 is to be located at the same place in the die,but its lower cylindrical portion e takes the place It is essenof thesupport used with the other former. In each case the shape of the recessis the same-that is, it has a cylindrical lower portion and an enlargedflaring upper portion.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim is-- 1. 'Afioor and walltile, havingin its under side arecess withundercut walls, and groovesintersecting said recess and running to the sides of the tile.

2. A door and wall tile, having in its under sidearecess with undercutwalls, and grooves intersecting said recess, one or more of which are asdeep as the recess at the point where they intersect it.

3. A floor and wall tile, having in its under side a recess withundercut walls,and grooves intersecting said recess, which are deeper atthe inner end than at the outer.

4. A floorand wall tile, having in its under side a recess with undercutwalls, and grooves running from said recess to the sides of the tile,said recess having the lower portion of its walls upright and the upperportion sloping outwardly to form an enlargementof the recess at itsupper part.

In testimony whereof I 'aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALFRED PLANT.

Witnesses:

GEo. P. WHITTLESEY. FRANK D. BLACKISTONE.

